


Walk the Line

by Serendivinity



Category: Walking Dead, Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Reader Insert, Romance, Team Dixon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-04
Updated: 2013-12-04
Packaged: 2018-01-03 11:25:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1069910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serendivinity/pseuds/Serendivinity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world of dying chaos, the dead rise again and a small group try and find salvation in the wreckage. </p><p>Daryl/Reader</p>
            </blockquote>





	Walk the Line

**Author's Note:**

> Yeahh, I wrote this ages ago and have no idea why I didn't post it.  
> It's a sort of mini series I suppose. I'll update as often as I can, for now just enjoy typical Daryl Dialogue.

“That’s one clever fucking squirrel…” Daryl and Rick peered into the old tree, where bags hung loosely off the branches, satchels, shopping bags; everything reinforced enough to carry cans, and lightly packaged food.

“You think it’s still around?” Rick asked, squinting through the forests light looking for the person who was camping up in the tree.

“By the looks of it, they have been out a ‘couple of hours, these tracks ain’t fresh... ain’t no walker either” Daryl pointed his crossbow to the floor, moving leaves with the tip of the arrow delicately.

“Well then, I think we should take our chances and this food” Rick began to tug at a bag that was fastened to a low hanging tree branch, full of canned food and chip packets.

“Wait, Rick I don’t think that’s a good-“ he was cut off when his hunch was proven right, Daryl had noticed a piece of rope belonging to a net before the trap had triggered. “Yeah, that’s one clever squirrel!” he exclaimed, admiring the trap before beginning to make a cut to set Rick free. In all the commotion, they didn’t hear her…

“Daryl get me out of this damn thing!” Rick began thrashing around in the net, getting evermore tangled.

“Quit your bitchin’ and calm down, you’re making it worse, you want those things to come and get you while you’re hanging like an old man’s junk?” Daryl was trying to saw through rope with a hunting knife, it wasn’t proving to be as easy task until Rick tried to focus himself.

_**Snap.** _

The footsteps were far too close in their silence now and Daryl whirled round, his crossbow now ready to aim. “Well holy shit, we got a live one!” he exclaimed.

You stood, armed, twin hook swords at the ready, store tags still tangled around the hilt, slightly taken back by their presence, but still ready to fight for your food and your tree.

“What do you want?” you stared at the two men, trying not to betray a lack of confidence against the living and armed.

“The same thing as you, food, water and safety” Rick offered through the net, putting his hands up in protest, which seemed ridiculous given the circumstance, he was caught like a rat in a trap. “We have a group, just south, a few miles from here”

Daryl used the back of his fist to punch Rick through the rope. 

“Don’t tell her that, you don’t know what she might be planning, or who she’s with.”

“Look at her Daryl she as scared as the rest of us…”

“Speak for yourself” not once did Daryl lower his crossbow, it was fixed in aim at your skull. “Look this crazy bitch ain’t lowerin’ her weapons, so neither am I!”

You interjected their argument “Is there safety in your group?”

“I couldn’t say certainly that we are safe, but we have a large group and we’re holding out okay, at least as far as I know, I haven’t long joined them myself” Rick peeked through the net to get a better look at her. “Did you make this net?” he asked, trying to calm the situation.

“No, I found the net but I installed the trap myself. I have weapons stashed all over for safety. No guns, just things I raided from Atlanta before it fell, I knew it was coming before a lot of people, so I got the hell out, looted a hunting store and an Asian Weapon’s shop, as well as a Wal-Mart, and a liquor store…” you lowered the swords, using one to point upwards in the direction of the duffel bag containing unscrupulous amounts of Vodka. “I got cola too, but sometimes it aint enough!” this earned a laugh from Rick and a grunt from Daryl.

“Well you certainly seem handy, we could use someone like you in our group, now do you know how to let me out of this thing?” Rick looked at your contemplating expression before a sigh of relief washed over him, you lowered your weapon, Daryl didn’t flinch, and he was still armed. “Daryl?” Rick asked.

“She has a knife” he defended his stance, eye focused directly into the telescopic lens of the bow.

“And you have a crossbow aimed at my head; I’m not going to string him up by his intestines.” You muttered as you shuffled towards the trap, climbing swiftly up the tree to the top where the net hung, wrapped around a thick branch. You cut it loose and Rick fell to the floor with a thud, still entangled in cocoon of netting, Daryl helped to free him and picked him up by the elbow to steady Rick onto his feet, still holding the crossbow up in the air with one arm in the your general direction. “I hope I can trust you for this” you offered, not moving from the tree branch.

“I’m a man of law and a man of my word, you can trust both of us not to harm you, we can take you to camp first if you’d prefer? So you don’t think we’re stealin’ your food”

You studied them. Considered them for the longest minute before finally nodding, jumping down from your tree to the uncertain world below.

“In the world before, this is the part where I get dragged off kicking and screaming to be murdered.”

“Who said anythin’ changed?” Daryl spoke, absent-mindedly; paying close attention to the trail, before realising there was an eerie silence.

“Um… if it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll be better off in my tree” you started to back away from the two men, panic present in your expression, your heart picking up in pace at the suggestion.

“Suit yourself ma’am” Rick put his hands up defensively. “Daryl here didn’t realise what he said” Daryl looked confused, as if asking himself what he had said, still not realising how that sentence could have been misconstrued. You could see his face better now there wasn’t a weapon in the way, you took a little longer than necessary observing his face because he was growing uncomfortable watching yours in the silence.

“Okay.” You spoke softly. “Okay, I trust you, well I suppose, but I want you to bring some people here to bring this food back to the camp, just so I know ya’ll ain’t telling me a tall tale, it won’t last very long if there are as many as you claim, so I hope you have food too”

Rick and Daryl nodded. “Daryl here is a hunter; he can shoot Deer and other animals.”

“You any good?” you asked.

“Psht, I was huntin’ before these things came along, raised in the woods, a walker ain’t nothin’, I’ve brought down bigger game” he portrayed a sense of self arrogance and attitude when he spoke. You weren’t sure if you could trust him entirely…

With the chance of inviting a handy survivor back to the camp and plenty of food and mêlée weaponry, this was a good call for Rick, Daryl accepted his choice.  “We can do that. You stay in your tree for now until we come back, if you get into trouble just holler and we’ll come get you, we shouldn’t be any more than an hour. Stay safe… by the way we didn’t catch your name.”

“I didn’t say, the names _Y/N_”

“It’s nice to meet you, _Y/N_, I’m Rick, this is Daryl.”

With that they turned around to leave back for their camp, while you awaited their return…. 


End file.
